Recent advances in detoxification strategies for zearalenone contamination in food and feed

Zearalenone (ZEN) is a widely distributed mycotoxin that frequently contaminates crops and animal feed. ZEN can cause serious health problems in livestock and humans alike, leading to great economic losses in the food industry and livestock farming. Therefore, approaches for efficient ZEN decontamination in food and feed are urgently needed. Traditional physical and chemical methods may decrease the nutritional quality of food and palatability of feed, or leading to residues and safety concerns. By contrast, biological methods for the removal or degradation of ZEN overcome these problems, especially for biological degradation by microorganisms and specific enzymes extracted from strains that can convert ZEN to less toxic or even completely harmless products. In this review, we comprehensively describe methods for ZEN degradation, focusing especially on biological strategies. Finally, emerging strategies and advice on remaining challenges in biodegradation research are also briefly discussed. (C) 2020 The Chemical Industry and Engineering Society of China, and Chemical Industry Press Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

Zearalenone (ZEN) is a widespread mycotoxin that contaminates crops and animal feed, causing serious health problems for livestock and humans. Biological methods, especially microbial degradation and enzyme extraction, offer promising solutions for ZEN decontamination without sacrificing nutritional quality or safety concerns.